As former exec indicted, BMS posts growth

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

A triad of Bristol-Myers Squibb news today, some good, some not-so-good. First, let's get the earnings out of the way: The company reported a decline in earnings on restructuring charges, but adjusted results beat Wall Street forecasts; Bristol-Myers also managed to boost sales by 20 percent--yes, 20 percent--to $5.18 billion. Whither those restructuring charges? You'll recall that BMS announced 4,300 job cuts and a plethora of plant closures, measures designed to save $1.5 billion annually by 2010.

Meanwhile, a former Bristol-Myers senior VP has been indicted for misleading the government about a deal to keep generic Plavix off the market. According to the indictment, Andrew Bodnar told regulators that Bristol hadn't cut a deal with Apotex when he himself had negotiated it. Bodnar's indictment is just the latest bit of fallout from the 2006 deal; BMS already kicked out its CEO and pleaded guilty to federal charges, paying a $1 million fine.

And in the U.K., Bristol-Myers got the thumbs-down from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on its rheumatoid arthritis treatment Orencia. NICE says it's not cost-effective and so it shouldn't be paid for by the National Health Service.

- get the earnings news in the Houston Chronicle
- see the indictment story at the WSJ Health Blog
- find out more on the indictment from Pharmalot
- check out the NICE brief at CNN Money